My boyfriend is in a band with 3 other musicians and he just can't sing. He always complains when he plays gigs and people tell him that he can't sing. The other 2 guys in the band don't get ****ged off for their singing but he always does. He says that the listeners lack the point of good music which is to remain true to your style even if it means singing out of tune.

His band was recently reviewed and although the reviewer mentioned that his guitar playing was good this is what he said about his vocal talents:

"The Morrissey-esque vocal flourishes are awkward. A two-fold vocal approach would perhaps be more advantageous. Although it would involve relinquishing some vocal variety, it would avoid people wondering who misplaced the auto-tune device."

Not sure what to say to say to him as he's gutted.... I don't want to lie because I feel a bit silly, but I don't want to make him feel worse. How should I approach this?

Well, what's he doing wrong? Is he out of tune? Is he straining his voice? Theres tons of things he could be doing badly. If he just doesnt sound very good then he needs to try and mastr a more mainstream sound. What sort of music does his band make btw?

(Original post by matrix15)
Well, what's he doing wrong? Is he out of tune? Is he straining his voice? Theres tons of things he could be doing badly. If he just doesnt sound very good then he needs to try and mastr a more mainstream sound. What sort of music does his band make btw?

Well, he has asthma... so maybe he's straining it? He calls the music 'Progressive Rock'.

I see how he would be resilient to anyone trying to change his singing style. A unique singing style often defines a good band. However, as with your concerns, I agree that nobody wants to hear out of tune singing.

#1 Perhaps buy him a singing game for a console. There are all sorts of them with various types of music.

They might help him sort out his pitch as it judges it according to the track. Or at least point out to him he has issues.

#2 I don't know how serious his band is, though if they are receiving proper reviews then they music be quite dedicated.

If so, maybe he simply can't hear himself and would benefit from having some in-ear monitors to stop the other sound drowning out his ability to hear himself?

My ex was like this, his parents told him he was rubbish, I told him he was good but needed to be more confident. Well, I was wrong lmao! He did kareoke at a party on Saturday and wasn't even drunk, it was dreadful..! Sometimes people just can't be helped, and just aren't good. I wouldn't like him saying people have no taste if they think he's bad, maybe he needs to clean his ears out if he thinks he is that good.

My ex was OK, but too nervous and went flat too easily, and no matter how many times I'd start him in the right key (I play piano) he just couldn't stay there for more than 3 bars. He had loads of lessons, he just isn't good either.

(Original post by Anonymous)
Well, he has asthma... so maybe he's straining it? He calls the music 'Progressive Rock'.

Well plenty of prog rock bands don't have great singers but if you're concerned then I'd try and address his asthma, he needs to make sure he breathes properly - it's very important. He could try increasing his lung capacity: http://www.wikihow.com/Increase-Your-Lung-Capacity

If he is able to breathe properly whle singing he'll be straining less and probably be a bit more relaxed, which might do his overall sound some good.

If he is more prog metal than prog rock, make sure he doesn't scream too much or it'll have a negative impact on his voice.

Any more info that'd be useful in helping him? Does he smoke? Drink lots of hot drinks?